This is a small piece that I’m delivering today to the Principle Gallery in Alexandria. Painted on ragboard, the image is a little over 5″ square and is titled Solace of Labor.
I really like this piece a lot, on a very personal level. i suppose all my work is somewhat personal but, in this piece, I really feel as though I am the red tree here and the fields before it represent the work I’ve done. The color of the piece has a calming, quiet effect and gives me the feel of the solace of the title. It is a feeling much like that which I get when I collectively look back at the work, one of quiet pride of a task completed to my own satisfaction, knowing I had done my best and could do no more.
It also has a feel that takes me back to the very first work that I showed publicly many years back yet it still feels like today. I feel the continuity of self through that time in this piece. I guess what I mean by that, is that even though the work has evolved over the years there is a line of continuity that runs through it and in this piece I can see it come full circle.
I don’t know if that makes sense to anyone but me. I guess it doesn’t matter. As I’ve said before, if I could say or write what I’m trying to say with my paintings, I wouldn’t need to paint.
But until I can write what I want to get across, I will paint. Tomorrow. Back in the studio after a couple of days on the road.
I can’t wait…
Redtree Times 